Children 1st needed a digital agency to create something special. An interactive and unique online tool to demonstrate the differences between how a child’s brain works as opposed to an adult’s. The goal being to engage and inform parents so they could provide children with lovable and reliable relationships, with a focus on calmness to better shape brain development.
Our research led us down the road of The Dot and Line, a book from 1965 which told the romance story of a dot, a straight line, and a squiggle. The client immediately bought into this concept and after further consideration within our team, we agreed it would form the perfect basis for some memorable characters.
Using the squiggly line design, we created the characters, AKA “The Brains”. The younger the character the squigglier their brain was, illustrating something that is often unkempt and a work in progress. The adult brain was well-formed, rounded, and steady, to indicate the opposite and establish the hierarchy of the conversation.
The brains were created, with baby, toddler, primary school child, and teenager characters made using the design elements we agreed on. The focus was on attachment, trauma, and resilience, which we felt our characters were able to tackle head on thanks to our meticulous planning as a team and innovative approach to the character design.
The colour tones, styles, and palette we went for were created around the implication of mood. With darker colours showing disconnection and chaotic brain patterns, and lighter tones connoting calmness, happiness, and balance.
Core concept established and characters agreed with the client, we crafted the final project design in Umbraco for ultimate interactivity and engagement. Delivered within a flexible framework in Umbraco, individual elements could be added with chosen characters developed and animated as the client required.
When it came to the interactive stages of the website, and of each child’s development, we wanted an app-like interface to encourage an immersive feel for users. The animations really needed to pop to effectively tell the story and users needed to be able to “jump around” each page to feel truly immersed.
With help from the client, we populated pages detailing the needs of the brains (or children) at various points in their life. Using our now-established illustrations and characters, we were able to effectively tell the story the client wanted to tell in an interactive and engaging way. The pages touched on feeling management, safety, everyday care, and love, as well as fun. We also included sections on each page relating to attachment, trauma, and resilience in each stage of childhood.
The brief was met, and the client was extremely pleased with the project. We hit all the objectives thanks to the successful collaboration between our creative and technical team members, and the outcome was a highly interactive and attractive online tool for parents to better understand and communicate with their children.
We believe that we not only created an effective interactive tool that hit the mark from a technical and design perspective, but that we helped Children 1st make a difference in children’s lives by helping parents better understand how to communicate and therefore aid their children’s development.
This is just another example of the high levels of creativity and collaboration we’re known for at Gecko, with digital innovation pushing forward this project to completion. It’s why 91% of our clients stick with us in the long-term, typically for five years or more, and it’s an exemplification of how we thrive under the pressure of solving digital challenges, creating something truly unique in terms of design and technology to surpass your expectations.
